2011 Tour de France Awards

These awards are compiled after thoughtful consideration by the author. They are influenced by the overall results of all of the various competitions and individual stage results, in addition to a subjective component.

Best Teams. It seems unclear how this should be measured, but accomplishing the goals set out for the team at the beginning of the Tour seems a good tool for assessment.

1) Garmin-Cervelo: Won four stages, the overall team competition, and placed a rider in the top 10 overall. They also had the yellow jersey for a week. It's difficult to ask for much more than that.

2) BMC: They did only one thing, but that one thing was winning the Tour de France.

3) HTC-Highroad: They didn't manage to have either Peter Velits or Tony Martin challenge for a high overall place, but they did win six stages, 5 with Mark Cavendish and 1 with Martin.

4) Europcar: They're higher up than they might otherwise be because they're a small team with a small budget, which they exceeded to the maximum. 10 days in yellow, winning the stage to Alpe d'Huez, and 4th and 11th overall. A good Tour by almost anyone's standards.

5) Leopard-Trek: They finished with two men on the podium and went one-two on the queen stage. They also had the yellow jersey for a day, and all nine riders finished the race.

6) Omega-Pharma-Lotto: Even without team captain Jurgen van den Broeck, the team managed three stage wins, a day in the yellow jersey, and runs in both the king of the mountains and green points jerseys. The unknown Jelle Vanendert, sprinter Andre Greipel, and classics specialist Philippe Gilbert all did their part.

Five worst teams.

22) Saur-Sojasur: They were totally anonymous. They made a few breaks, but never came close to winning anything. The fact that Jerome Coppel made the top 15 overall is something of an enigma because he was never with the leaders on the climbs, so it's not totally clear how he managed such a high finish.

21) Radioshack: They had the worst luck of any team in recent Tour memory, losing four riders (including three contenders for the podium) in the first week and a half.

20) Astana: Astana also had a bit of bad luck, with Vinokourov crashing out early on, but they accomplished nothing without him.

19) Quick-Step: Kevin de Weert did finish in the top 15, but that was the only success for Quick-Step. Sprinters Tom Boonen and Gert Steegmans both withdrew, but even before they withdrew, they hadn't challenged for stage wins.

18) Katusha: Mikhail Ignatyev had a good crack at winning out of a breakaway one day, but that was as close as they came to accomplishing anything of note.

Best individual rider performances:

1) Thomas Voeckler: He played the role of The-Little-Frenchman-Who-Could to perfection.

2) Cadel Evans: He did that little thing called winning the race.

3) Andy Schleck: Inspired fans with an old-attack that almost won the Tour.

4) Mark Cavendish: 5 stage wins gets you on this list.

5) Thor Hushovd: 2 individual stage wins plus the team time trial and a week in yellow... good Tour, Thor.

Most enigmatic riders:

1) Jerome Coppel: Nobody is quite sure how he made the top 15.

2) J. J. Rojas: Nobody is quite sure how he was only 15 points back of Cavendish riding onto the Champs-Elysees.

3) Thomas Voeckler: Why have we never seen this before?

4) Jelle Vanendert: Where did he come from in the Pyrenees, and where did he disappear to in the Alps?

5) Vladimir Karpets: Did he knock Contador off the road or was it an accident? And why didn't he do better overall?

Award for effort most resembling a Greek god:

1) Thomas Voeckler: Any man who will hurt himself that much for a yellow jersey deserves his own masseur; fortunately Voeckler has one.

2) Andy Schleck: The attack to the Galibier will live on in Tour legend for some time to come.

3) Cadel Evans: Clawing back two minutes on the best climber in the world on the way up to the highest summit finish in Tour de France history is no small feat. To ride the best time trial of your life two days later is even more impressive, and it might just win you the Tour.

Riders to look for in the future:

1) Andy Schleck: This was the first year he was ineligible for the best young rider competition. He's still got a long career ahead of him, and everyone will be surprised if that career ends without a Tour de France victory.

2) Pierre Roland: Every young French rider who can climb is touted as the next Bernard Hinault these days, but Rolland IS the first Frenchman to win at Alpe d'Huez since Hinault did 25 years ago. Maybe, just maybe he's the real deal. Of course if he's not, there's always

3, 4) Jerome Coppel and/or Arnold Jeannesson: Both finished in the top 15, and both are young Frenchmen.

5) Rein Taaramae: Not too many Estonians have ridden the Tour de France, but Rein Taaramae looks like he might just threaten for overall victory some day. He finished 12th this year, and he looked good throughout the race.

The "Thanks-Now-Please-Leave-Award" for riders who should retire:

Ivan Basso: Congratulations on your top 10, now please go. Will be 35 by next year's Tour.

Andreas Kloden: Will be 37 by next year's Tour.

Tom Boonen: Just doesn't seem to have it anymore, and will be 32 by next year's Tour - a bit old for a sprinter.

Cadel Evans: You've soured the Tour with your surly personality for long enough. Now that you've won the thing, please just go back to rural Australia and leave the rest of the cycling world alone.

Most invisible rider award (I didn't hear these riders mentioned once in 21 days of racing):

Romain Zingle (Cofidis)

Jemerie Galland (Saur-Sojasur)

Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas)

Brian Vandborg (Saxo-Bank Sunguard)

The seven riders on Lampre who aren't Damiano Cunego or Alessandro Petacchi, the latter of whom did nothing but was still talked about a lot.

Tour de France Recap and Highlights

Chapeau, Cadel Evans, champion of the 2011 Tour de France. It was the most exciting Tour de France in recent memory, a race in which fans became accustomed to expecting the unexpected. The herculean efforts of the Schleck brothers, Thomas Voeckler, and Alberto Contador were inspiring, but none was sufficient to unsettle the consistent and defensive Evans. Evans almost never launched an attack himself, but he was able to defend enough in the mountains and take back the time he needed in the time trial to win a memorable Tour de France.

The race for the podium began unexpectedly on day one, as several of the overall favorites were tied up behind a crash and lost over a minute to about half the race. Crashes continued to play a role throughout a tense first week, taking out a number of favorites including Jani Brajkovic, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Horner, Alexander Vinokourov, Jurgen van den Broeck, and eventually Andreas Kloden. Others, like Levi Leipheimer, Christian VandeVelde, and Ryder Hesjedal, lost serious chunks of time.

The hero of the first week, however, had to have been team Garmin-Cervelo. Thor Hushovd took third one stage won, and started the team time trial needing just six seconds on Philippe Gilbert and three seconds on Cadel Evans. Well, Garmin-Cervelo took four seconds on Evans and several more on Gilbert, and Hushovd wound up with the yellow jersey. Nobody thought he would keep it for more than a couple of days, but Hushovd rode exceptionally well, even leading out teammate Tyler Farrar for America's first ever stage win on July 4th, and managed to hold on to the jersey for a week.

Cue the hero of the second week of the Tour, Thomas Voeckler. On what was always going to be a great stage for a breakaway to succeed, Voeckler and three other great breakaway artists got into the attack along with Tour rookie Johnny Hoogerland. Sandy Casar, Luis Leon Sanchez, Thomas Voeckler, and Juan Antonio Flecha had all won stages of the Tour before, and so the stage promised to be a great one. And although it was a stage for the breakaway, with Sanchez winning his third ever stage and Voeckler taking yellow, the day will be better remembered for two horrendous crashes.

The first came on a wet descent where a number of riders crashed at the head of the peloton which caused absolute chaos. Riders flew off the road, with the worst by far being Vinokourov, who had to be helped out of a tree and back up to the road by his teammates. Vino abandoned and x-rays later revealed a break to the uppermost part of his femur. The injury was severe enough to force his retirement from professional cycling. Omega-Pharma-Lotto overall contender Jurgen van den Broeck also was forced to abandon as a result of that crash, but the worst was still to come.

As the riders in the break ramped up their speeds to respond to the slowed pace in the peloton caused by the crash, the most unbelievable of accidents happened, as a France TV car, attempting to pass the riders, swerved to avoid a tree, wiping out Juan and Antonio Flecha, and causing Johnny Hoogerland to somersault head over heels into a barbed wire fence at the side of the road. Neither would be able to make it back to Casar, Sanchez, and Voeckler, but they both finished the stage, Hoogerland bleeding heavily, and would both go on to finish the Tour de France.

With the race heading into the Pyrenees shortly, nobody knew how long Thomas Voeckler would be able to keep the yellow jersey. He has always been a good rider, but has never competed with the big guns in the high mountains. He was, undoubtedly, the surprise of the Pyrenees, as he managed to keep his jersey and lose almost no time to the major contenders for overall victory in Paris. Frank Schleck and Samuel Sanchez were both able to take a little bit of time on him, but none of the other contenders managed more than a couple of seconds.

As the peloton aimed for the Alps, the Schleck brother were sitting second and fourth overall, separated from Cadel Evans by only a handful of seconds. They knew, however, that they would need to take minutes from Evans before the time trial on the penultimate day of the Tour, and nobody knew whether or not Voeckler would crack. When Andy Schleck lost over a minute on the transitional stage leading into the Alps, everybody knew that the traditional playbook had to be thrown out the window.

On stage 18, Andy Schleck launched the most audacious assault on the yellow jersey in recent memory. Leopard-Trek had sent two men up the road in the day's breakaway, but with 60 kilometers left to race, and two enormous summits still left to cross, nobody was expecting any serious attacks. But that's where Andy decided to go. He caught everybody unawares, and rode away from the group, quickly opening up a lead of over a minute and bridging up to Joost Posthuma, who was able to give him just enough of a breather so that he summited the climb less than a minute behind other teammate Maxime Monfort, and with a gap of over two minutes back to the peloton. Monfort rode brilliantly, perhaps the best ride from any domestique I can remember in recent memory, pacing Andy down the descent, and reeling in the rest of the day's escapees before the base of the final 23km climb up to the Tour's highest ever stage finish atop the Galibier.

Andy had a gap of over four minutes at the base of the climb, and there was little doubt that unless he cracked spectacularly, he would win the stage. It was just a matter of by how much. With nobody seeming to have the legs to help Evans chase Andy up the Galibier, Evans was left to do all of the chasing himself. He rode excellently, gradually pulling back the gap to Andy. By the summit, it was just over two minutes, and Frank rode away from the group to cross the line second and give the brothers a memorable one-two on this, the Etapa Reina, or "queen stage" as it is called in Spanish. Evans, Voeckler, and the Schleck brothers all merited praise for their performances on the day. It was, however, the day on which Alberto Contador, Samuel Sanchez, and Damiano Cunego lost the Tour.

Stage 18 of the 2011 Tour de France will remain one of the greatest stages ever raced for some time to come. In the last couple of decades, no overall contender has launched such an intrepid attack. Andy certainly won the hearts of many a spectator with this attack in the style of Tour legends such as Eddy Merckx. And Thomas Voeckler captivated the hearts of French fans, for no Frenchman has ridden as been in contention for the podium in quite some time.

After stage 18, Andy had just under a minute advantage on Cadel Evans, and most people seemed to think that wouldn't be enough going into the final time trial. Though he attacked valiantly again on stage 19, following the early move of Alberto Contador, Andy simply didn't have the legs to ride away from Evans. Pierre Rolland, the young Frenchman who had ridden so brilliantly in support of Thomas Voeckler over the previous two weeks, was given free reign to attack, as Voeckler knew he didn't have the legs to keep the yellow jersey, and Rolland delivered France its first (and only) stage win atop the most famous climb in all of cycling, the Alpe d'Huez. Rolland also took the white jersey for best young rider, which he would defend in the time trial the following day to wear on the Champs-Elysees. And Sammy Sanchez secured victory in the king of the mountains, with a second-place finish atop Alpe d'Huez.

Evans put in a dominant display in the time trial on stage 20, and despite riding fantastically, the Schleck brothers couldn't keep the yellow jersey. In the days since, many pundits have critiqued the Schleck brothers' time-trialling that day, but they both finished inside the top-20 on the stage. In fact, Andy rode to within a minute of the time clocked by world time trial champion and teammate Fabian Cancellara. It was not that the Schlecks rode badly; rather, Evans rode the time trial of his life. The final standings saw the Schleck brothers second and third, Voeckler hung on for fourth, and Contador made a fantastic comeback to round out the top five. Sammy Sanchez rode an unexpectedly excellent time trial to finish 7th on the stage and 6th overall, while Italians Damiano Cunego and Ivan Basso had to settle for 7th and 8th overall respectively. American Tom Danielson, touted some years ago as the successor to Lance Armstrong rode admirably in his first Tour at age 33 and finished 9th overall, while a second Frenchman, Jean-Christophe Peraud, rounded out the top 10.

The race for the green points jersey, awarded to the best sprinter, went down to the wire. The man from the Isle of Mann, Mark Cavendish, despite his four stage wins had only a 15 point lead over Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas going into the final stage, but Cavendish won easily to secure the green jersey. Rojas was something of an enigma, finishing in the high places consistently but never really even threatening to win a stage. Gilbert also threw his hat into the mix in the quest for the green jersey, but although he sprints very well on uphill finishes, he was unable to compete against Cavendish and Rojas in the flatter sprints.

There were other wonderful stories from this year's Tour as well. The two Norwegians in the race, Thor Hushovd and Edvald Boasson Hagen, combined for four stage wins, in addition to the team time trial won by Hushovd's team. Jeremy Roy, and the whole FdJ team deserve enormous credit for the continual attacks. Roy was certainly the only rider who could possibly have won the prize for most aggressive rider of the Tour. He attacked constantly, and was unfortunate to be caught in the closing kilometers of stage 13 by Hushovd. Garmin-Cervelo won the team race with excellent riding in the mountains by Christian VandeVelde, Ryder Hesjedal, and Tom Danielson. The win by Hushovd from the stage 16 breakaway, out of which Hesjedal finished third, gave them a large advantage which they defended well in the Alps.

The number of young, highly talented French riders was also a great story at this year's Tour. In addition to Rolland, who won the white jersey, Arnold Jeannesson and Jerome Coppel both finished inside the overall top 15. That meant that France had five riders finish in the top fifteen, which is something of anomaly in recent Tour history. It will certainly contribute to added French excitement for next year.

Personally, I think it's a bit unfortunate that the rider who attacked least won the overall victory in Paris. Don't get me wrong, Evans rode very well, but when a rider who defends well wins the Tour de France, it takes away some of the impetus for attacking. It must be a huge disappointment for Andy as well, because he becomes the first ever rider to finish second overall in three consecutive years. But the competition itself was beautiful. Evans is a great champion. He has been one of the best cyclists in the world for over a decade, now, and has won everything except a Tour de France. Now he is undoubtedly one of the most complete cyclists of all time. Andy and Frank will be back, and one hopes that they can win a Tour de France eventually. But with Alberto Contador vowing that from now on he will only focus on winning the Tour de France, that feat may be more difficult in future years.

If you missed it, you missed out. This Tour de France was one of the most exciting, and spectacular, in years. But with so many riders riding so well, let's hope that next year's Tour brings even more fireworks. I think it just might.

Tour de France for Beginners- What to Watch and Predictions

It's July again already and that means it's time for the greatest event in the sport of cycling - the Tour de France. Since my most of my readership is almost certainly unacquainted with the sport of cycling and the finer points of the Tour de France, I thought I'd take this opportunity to pull out some of the things to watch for during the Tour this year. Cycling really is a wonderful sport to follow, and people who argue that it's boring and uninteresting usually just don't know of all the different things they could be paying attention to.

The Route: The Tour takes place over the course of 23 days, with 21 days of racing and 2 rest days. Each stage falls into one of five categories this year. The road stages, in which all the riders start together, are divided into plains (10), medium mountains (3), and high mountains (6), and in addition to these, there is one individual time trial (ITT) and one team time trial (TTT). In the time trial stages, the riders start spaced out and are tested only against the clock over a much shorter distance than a normal road stage would generally be. In the team time trial, the riders start with their teams. The total distance covered will be over 3,400 kilometers.

Competitions: In addition to the general classification (that's the overall victory that Lance Armstrong won seven times), there are several other competitions. Riders compete for the green points jersey. Points are accumulated at the end of every stage as well as in smaller numbers at an intermediate sprint point every day. More points are awarded on the flat plains stages than on mountain stages because there is a separate king of the mountains competition. On each categorized climb, which are cutely delineated 4 (the smallest), 3, 2, 1, and hors categorie (or beyond classification), points are awarded to the first riders across. More points, of course, are awarded for more serious climbs. The leader in this classification gets to look super-fresh in the polka-dot jersey. There is also a competition for the best young rider (25 and under), the leader of which wears the white jersey. And of course, each day, there is a winner of the individual stage.

Plains Stages: Most people who find cycling boring speak such blasphemy because of the plains stages. Admittedly, the plains stages offer a bit less drama than the mountain or time trial stages, but there is still an abundance of things to look for. As the peloton (group of cyclists) crosses the French countryside the vistas are nothing short of spectacular. Each day a helicopter accompanies the racers to get aerial shots of the riders and the villages and environment they pass through. If you're watching on Versus in the US, then you'll get to hear Paul Sherwin's lovely explanations of all the different chateaus and their histories. Frequently French fans design large artistic creations in fields for the cameras on the helicopter. The shots are truly breathtaking.

And of course, the race itself often does offer drama. On virtually every stage, a breakaway forms. It usually consists of anywhere between three and ten riders who break out of the peloton early. Although on flat stages this is frequently a doomed attempt from the get-go, the riders, often from some of the smaller teams, offer their sponsors valuable television coverage time, and it's always possible that some event, such as a crash, protesting French workers, or a herd of cattle, could keep the peloton from reeling the escapees back in. The teams of the sprinters - riders who contest only for stage wins at the end of flat stages - want to make sure that their sprinter is in the front group when the riders come to the line so they have a shot at the stage win. The flat stages are usually all about the sprinters, but usually there will be at least one day where the breakaway manages to stay away. This year, however, there are two or three "flat" stages that end with a little climb. This means that these stages could see some different riders contest the victories, such as today when Philippe Gilbert won the opening stage.

Medium Mountains: These are often long transition stages across rolling hills and can be some of the most exciting of the Tour. They are frequently won by the escapees because the sprinters' teams won't be sure their sprinters can make it over the medium mountains. It was on a long stage (230km) like this in 2006 that Oscar Pereiro made up 30 minutes on the race leaders and vaulted into the race lead. Stages 9 and 16 look to be the best stages for this year's breakaway artists. Stage 9 features no less than 7 categorized climbs and stage 16 passes over a relatively difficult category 2 climb just 11 km from the finish. If large breakaways form on either stage, it is unlikely they will be reeled back in.

High Mountains: This high mountains and the time trials are the only places where the overall classification can be won, and this year's route is very mountains-heavy. 4 of the high mountains stages feature summit finishes this year, and it is on these summit finishes that the biggest time gaps open. One bad day in the mountains can cost a rider anywhere from five minutes on upwards. On the steepest gradients, the riders competing for overall victory launch fierce attacks against their competitors to try and win valuable time.

Team Time Trial: The one team time trial this year takes place tomorrow, July 3, and is one of the most exciting stages of any Tour. Newcomers to the sport are often puzzled by how it is a team event, and the TTT is the perfect way to see the team dynamic in action. Most riders on the best teams never attempt to win anything; they are called domestiques. Their sole purpose is to aid their teammates, either for stage wins or for the general classification. The importance of having a solid team can never be underestimated.

Other things to look for: The devil. There is a very special fan who dresses up as the devil every day and waits near the end of the route. It's always fun to see him cheering the cyclists on. The Basque fans. As the riders enter the mountains, especially the Pyrenees, watch for the Basque fans. They frequently wear orange (the color of the all Basque Euskaltel-Eusakdi team) and wave the Basque red, white, and green flag. Crashes. If you're a sadistic type of person, the crashes are truly brutal. Already this year, one cyclist has died from a crash. It's not why I watch, but it's why some people do. The characters. Cyclists are crazy fellows, and sometimes if we're lucky, there can be some dynamic at the Tour that feels a little soap-opera-esque. The commentary. Paul Sherwin and Phil Liggett, the British commentators for Versus, the American broadcaster of the Tour, are nothing short of fantastic. I know of no other commentators who offer anything approaching the humor, insight, and articulation offered by these two.

And of course, the unexpected. Every year, something amazing happens. In 2007, Sandy Casar won a stage following a collision with a dog that left him with half of his bicycling shorts. That same year, Alberto Contador staved off powerful displays by Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer in the penultimate-day ITT to win his first ever Tour de France. Last year, Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador attacked each other time and time again on the Col du Tourmalet, and their fight ended in the most improbably of stalemates. Mark Cavendish has won 15 stages in only three years of racing Tours de France, moving into second all time for stage wins by a sprinter. And already this year, on what was supposed to be a benign stage, a crash with 8km to go left more than half the field blocked and resulted in three-time defending champion Alberto Contador being 80 seconds down to most of his rivals.

Now to my predictions:

Overall Classification Top Five: Contador, A. Schleck, F. Schleck, Gesink, Leipheimer

Points Classification Top Five: Farrar, Cavendish, Rojas, Petacchi, Bozic

King of the Mountains Top Five: Gesink, F. Schleck, S. Sanchez, Contador, A. Schleck

Young Rider Classification Top Five: Gesink, Van Garderen, Taaramae, Kreuziger, Mollema

Team Classification: Radio Shack, Leopard-Trek, Rabobank, Garmin-Cervelo, AG2R

Most Stage Wins: Mark Cavendish (3)

Days to watch: The Tour will most likely be decided on stage 19, on the climb to Alpe d'Huez. This is perhaps the most famous climb in all of cycling for its 21 switchbacks, which are nicely indicated in this photo. Stage 18 is among the most brutal in Tour history, however, as it climbs three hors categorie climbs in succession. Stage 12 also promises to be spectacular, as, after 11 days of mostly flat racing, the climbers will want to test their legs on this first foray into the high mountains. And as I said previously, the transition stages 9 and 16 should be spectacular. If you've never watched cycling before, pick one of those days, and commit to watching through the finish. If you think it's worthless, okay, but at least give it a shot.